Chapter 473

The tunnels leading from the outside into Hope City are divided into Areas 1-50 according to their location.

The smaller the area number, the nearer it is to Hope City; theoretically, the lower the chance of danger. The larger the number, the farther away it is, and the greater the danger factor.

Inside the tunnel, you can't see your hand in front of your face; in the darkness, there are occasional rustling sounds.

Fortunately, Yu Yang and the others quickly produced a fist-sized transparent sphere from their persons; the next second, several spheres emitted bright white light, illuminating the entire tunnel as if it were daytime.

"This is an illumination ball; its function is to provide light—just press the switch on top to activate it. Even if its power runs out, it's fine, because like combat armor, it can automatically absorb energy from the air to recharge."

Yu Yang said while handing over an illumination ball.

"Even though we don't need this thing—we can see our surroundings fine in the dark—using it makes things even clearer and also drives away creatures that like to dwell in darkness."

Jiang Cheng thanked him and also pressed the switch.

The bright light illuminated the nearby tunnels, revealing every detail.

After walking for about half an hour, Yu Yang said: "We've arrived; ahead is Area 15. Our mission is to patrol these areas, check for any unusual situations, so we might encounter danger later—everyone stay alert and don't let your guard down."

He turned his body, his gaze not only on Jiang Cheng but also sweeping over the faces of the others.

The three Di Yun, who had been relaxed earlier, now also wore serious expressions.

So although the chance of danger is small, it's not zero; a single slip-up could really get someone killed.

The group proceeded cautiously through the tunnel, using not only their eyes but also releasing their spiritual power.

Soon, the group reached a junction that split into three passages; one of them was riddled with holes of various sizes, making one's scalp tingle just to look at it.

"This is the territory of the gluttonous ants."

Yu Yang explained: "Don't underestimate the gluttonous ants just because an individual isn't strong—even the ant king is only a Level 10 exotic beast, but a gluttonous ant nest contains at least hundreds of millions of them. When we first dug the tunnels and intruded into their territory, we still paid a considerable price,

"In the end, the chief personally stepped in and killed their ant king. After all these years, we've managed a sort of peaceful coexistence with them, but we still can't be careless—if they were to invade Hope City, the consequences would be unthinkable."

Saying this, Yu Yang took out a map, picked up a pen, and put a check mark on it.

Jiang Cheng glanced sideways and saw that the map bore many markings; the symbols used for marking weren't circles but small icons—for example, at their current location, the map showed an ant icon with the two small characters "caution" beneath it.

"Alright, let's move on to the next place."

Yu Yang put the map away, gave a slight smile, and headed toward the rightmost passage.

Not long after, the group arrived at another fork; this time there were only two paths ahead, both empty and appearing hardly different.

But upon closer inspection, one would notice that the left passage's soil is much looser, like a stretch of sand.

The right passage's ground looks just as solid as the ground beneath their feet.

"That is the territory of the bloodthirsty worms."

Yu Yang's eyes showed deep apprehension as he said: "Don't be fooled by the empty appearance of the passage—if someone carelessly enters, dozens or even hundreds of bloodthirsty worms will burst from the ground, using their sharp mouthparts to tear a person into pieces and swallow them."

"Don't underestimate their strength—even the smallest bloodthirsty worm is five to six meters long, with speed and strength comparable to a Seven- or Eight-level Force Warrior; stronger ones can be over ten meters long. Even I could at most handle one or two, and if attacked by several at once, there would be no chance of survival. The deeper you go, the stronger the worms become; it's said that even the great chief wouldn't dare venture into the deepest parts."

Jiang Cheng heard this and took a deep breath. Good grief, even the chief hasn't gone in there—meaning there must be an exotic beast equivalent to a human Supreme-level Strongman? A Beast King level? Or even a Beast Emperor level? "Fortunately, these bloodthirsty worms cannot easily leave their territory; as long as we don't enter, we'll be fine." Yu Yang said, then took out the map again and put a check mark beneath the bloodthirsty worm symbol.

Jiang Cheng noticed that the two characters beneath the bloodthirsty worm symbol read "danger".

He then looked at other symbols and suddenly saw the four characters "extreme danger," causing his pupils to dilate instantly as he looked upward.

What he saw was a centipede-shaped exotic beast.

"This is a thousand-legged centipede."

Yu Yang noticed Jiang Cheng's gaze, took a deep breath, and said: "This is a true Beast Emperor; since we arrived here, it has caused us considerable casualties—even several Grandmaster-level strongmen have been eaten by it. Ultimately, the Big Chief stepped forward, wounded it, and we reached an agreement of mutual non‑infringement."

?

Jiang Cheng stared in shock.

Does this mean the Beast Emperor possesses intelligence?

"Yes."

Yu Yang saw Jiang Cheng's doubt and explained: "Generally speaking, a Beast King's intellect is equivalent to that of a human child of a few years old; the stronger the Beast King, the higher its intellect. By the time it reaches Beast Emperor level, its intellect is comparable to a human's—it can understand human speech, speak the beast language, and the smarter ones can even utter human words."

Jiang Cheng heard this and sucked in a breath of cold air.

Good grief.

"But you can rest assured."

Yu Yang laughed and said: "We don't need to patrol these places; on the contrary, we should avoid them. Not just here, but these areas as well are ones we must stay far away from—otherwise, if we intrude into their territory and go unnoticed, that's fine, but if we are detected, we won't even know how we died."

"Like that."

Jiang Cheng heard that and let out a sigh of relief.

"Actually, the existence of these Beast Emperors is not a bad thing for us."

Yu Yang said: "From a certain perspective, these Beast Emperors also serve as several barriers. In the past, outsiders captured our people, hoping they would guide them to Hope City, but the result was that those people were taken to the territories of these Beast Emperors and became their food. Of course,"

Yu Yang's eyes darkened as he added: "Those who were captured also couldn't escape death, but put another way, having already suffered torture upon capture, it would be better to drag the enemy down with them than to be killed outright."

"Yes."

Jiang Cheng felt moved.

These Beast Emperors are a source of danger, yet in a desperate situation they can also be a form of release.

The group continued forward; whenever they reached a gathering of exotic beasts, Yu Yang would stop and give Jiang Cheng an explanation.

Along the way, they also passed the habitats of the thousand-legged centipede and other Beast Emperors; fortunately, the journey went smoothly, and by around two in the afternoon they had surveyed all the areas without any incidents occurring.

(End of chapter)